Album Review: Lights & Motion - Save Your Heart

Album Rating: A-

What do you do after releasing one of the most acclaimed debuts of the year? That's the question overnight post-rock sensation Christoffer Franzen, better known to his fans as Lights & Motion, had to answer. After releasing Reanimation, he soon found his songs in film trailers, fan videos and even the Oscar ceremonies. Whatever he'd do next, one thing was for sure: the world would be watching with eager eyes.

In that light, what's most impressive about his follow-up Save Your Heart, following Reanimation only ten months after its release, is that it truly feels like the next step in Franzen's self-realization as a musician. He very easily could have capitalized on his newfound fame by pumping out another LP of fist-pumping instrumental rock and called it a day. Instead, Save Your Heart finds him shading in new facets of his musical identity, even as it retains many of the same things that made everybody fall in love with him in the first place.

Album Review: Lights & Motion - Reanimation

Album Rating: A

From fledgling startup Aerials to Deep Elm signed project Lights & Motion, Christoffer Franzén has been through a lot trying to release his music to the public. However, there's a certain satisfaction in having discovered the project when he was releasing demo tracks on his SoundCloud, and helping nurture and provide attention for the guy until he was finally noticed. And being noticed allowed Franzén to focus his sound and perfect exactly what he wanted to perfect, because L&M's debut is stunningly spectacular. Reanimation is the ultimate cinematic post-rock record, combining beautiful layers, powerful and meaningful melodic lines, and an ethereal feel that drives home the statement Lights & Motion has to offer: "I'm here, and I'm a musical force to contend with."